Virginia CWS Ring Ceremony Set For Friday

UVA Baseball to Hold Celebration of 2009 Team

(Courtesy Press Release)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia will hold a celebration of the 2009 UVa baseball team at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 at Davenport Field prior to the start of Game 6 of the Orange and Blue World Series. Virginia will conduct its College World Series and ACC Championship ring ceremony at that time.

There will be a video presentation featuring highlights of the 2009 team’s historic season as part of the celebration. Admission for the evening is free of charge. Free hot dogs and Pepsi will be available for the first 2,000 fans in attendance.

Fans also will be invited on the field after the game to receive autographs from the Cavaliers.

Authentic Virginia old-timers hats will be available to the first 100 fans entering the ballpark for Game 6. The also will be raffle prizes available during the game, including team-signed baseballs, jerseys and 2009 baseball cards.

UVa will hold Youth Baseball Day on Oct. 16 as well. All Little League programs and youth 14 and under are welcome to attend.

At 5:30 p.m., all little leaguers will be welcome to come onto the field and play catch in the outfield, run the bases and meet the Virginia players. Three little leaguers will be chosen to throw out the first pitch, while one will be selected to introduce the lineups for the first inning. Players are encouraged to wear their baseball uniforms.

Virginia posted a 49-15-1 record last year and advanced to the College World Series for the first time in program history. The Cavaliers also won the ACC Baseball Championship and set a single-season school record for victories.

UVa notched its sixth-consecutive NCAA tournament bid under head coach Brian O’Connor, who earned National Coach of the Year honors. He led the Cavaliers across the country to compete as the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Irvine Regional, where they defeated San Diego State and then host and No. 6 national seed UC Irvine twice to advance to the first NCAA Super Regional in school history.

UVa then won two of three games in the NCAA Oxford Super Regional against Mississippi to earn a trip to the College World Series, where the Cavaliers made their first-ever appearance with a loss to eventual national champion LSU, a victory over No. 2 national seed Cal State Fullerton and a 12-inning defeat to Arkansas.

The Cavaliers led the ACC in batting (.327), ERA (3.23) and stolen bases (119), becoming just the second team in league history to lead the conference in all three categories.